Make Some Magic

by Morgana Best

  “What will we do?” My voice was the faintest of whispers.

  “Hide. He might think that the creature has taken you. I’ll sit back down and loop the ropes around my feet. If he gets close to me, well, don’t worry, I’ll deal with him.”

  I ran and hid under the stairs, still not sure that Douglas was to be trusted.

  Sure enough, I heard the click at the door, signalling Gerald’s appearance. I crouched in the darkness under the stairs, softly brushing cobwebs out of my way.

  I couldn’t see Gerald until he walked half way across the room to Douglas. He was still waving his gun around. “Where is she?” For the first time, a hint of doubt had crept into his voice.

  “Vanished,” Douglas groaned. I almost smiled. He was doing a superb acting job. He was slumping, and his voice came out as if terrified, as if he’d seen something unspeakably evil.

  Gerald lowered the gun. “You mean vanished from the room? Speak up man! I can’t hear you.”

  He moved closer to Douglas and bent over him. “Speak I say! Do you mean she disappeared from the room?”

  Douglas acted so fast that even I jumped. I heard a gun shot, but the two men were still fighting, so I assumed neither had been shot. It was over quite fast. Douglas was standing over Gerald, holding Gerald’s gun. Gerald was out cold, sprawled all over the floor.

  I crept from my hiding place just as three men hurried down the stairs. To my enormous relief, they were John, Bill, and Ben.

  John ran over to me, his face white and filled with concern. “Misty, are you all right?”

  “Yes, I’m fine. That man on the ground tried to kill me.”

  Bill and Ben pulled Gerald to his feet. He was still out cold. I had thought him a slender, wiry man, but the two of them had trouble carrying him up the stairs.

  It was then that I looked down and noticed that John had a gun. I don’t know why it surprised me, perhaps as I’d never seen him with a gun before. It was a big gun. “John, your gun is bigger than Douglas’s,” I said.

  John and Douglas looked at each other, and then John hit Douglas. He planted one firmly right on his jaw. Douglas flew backwards, and lay sprawled on the floor right where Gerald had landed.

  “She’s never seen my gun,” Douglas muttered weakly. “Honest,” he added pathetically.

  John made an explosive sound of exasperation. “That is for putting Misty in danger, you despicable coward,” he spat. “If you ever put Misty in danger again, well, you won’t get off so lightly. And that’s no idle threat, I promise you.”

  An angry John took me by the arm, and helped me up the stairs and out of the house to his car. Bill and Ben had already left, presumably with Gerald. “What will happen to Douglas?”

  “Who cares?” John said.

  I nodded in agreement.

  For some reason, I suddenly thought of Brandon. “John, what about Brandon? Has he come home?”

  “Yes. I had a long talk with him.”

  I was at once dismayed. “Oh no! Is he okay?”

  John chuckled. “Let’s just say I promised to set him up with a colleague of mine. Turns out Brandon dated my colleague once before, but then thought he’d stood him up. I was able to share that he’d left early for an assignment, and smoothed it all out. Brandon seems quite happy now. I think he only saw me as rebound man. Plus, I assured him that if was gay, he’d be the type of guy I’d go for.”

  I gave John a long, hard look and then I smiled. I was content. The Black Lodge had been thwarted. They did not know the malingee’s name and wouldn’t be able to find out, not after what I had done. I still had to find out about The Orpheans, but at least now I knew their name. Things were looking up.

  Chapter 21

  Cordelia, Aunty June, John and I were sitting in my small living room. Merlin was there too, turning up her nose at cat treats. I had bought the wrong brand and she was angry with me. Still, the rest of us were happy.

  Cordelia approved of the fact that John and I were now dating. All her reservations about him had vanished. Aunty June was pleased that I was safe.

  Of course, Cordelia didn't know I'd had not one but two lucky escapes. I felt bad keeping things from her, but then again, what choice did I have?

  Aunty June beamed at John. "You're a good cook."

  "I'm trying to show off, to be honest," he said, waving a wooden spoon at her.

  Aunty June held out her wine glass. "Well then, be a dear and pour me some more wine.” John laughed and at once complied.

  When Cordelia walked over to help John in the kitchen, Aunty June took me by the arm and drew me aside. "Where's the book?" she whispered to me.

  I nodded towards my bedroom. She followed me in. "Consult it now," she said.

  "What will I ask it?"

  Aunty June waggled one finger at me. "Misty, it's up to you to decide."

  I was about to point out that she was the one who had told me to consult the book, but I knew there would be no point. I took my silver pendant from around my neck and formed it into a key, unlocking the padlock on the book. "What happens next?" I simply asked the book.

  The book flew open, all the pages flipping, one after the other. When the pages came to rest, Aunty June and I both peered inside.

  All will be revealed.

  I looked at Aunty June. "That doesn't make much sense," I said, disappointed. "Everything usually always is revealed in the end."

  Aunty June put her finger to her lips. "Be grateful for every message. Don't insult the book," she said.

  "I wasn't…" I began, but she shushed me.

  "The book might take it as an insult.”

  I frowned. Had she completely lost her mind? "Aunty June, you seem to know a lot about this book."

  Her hand flew to her throat. "Of course I don't, Misty. It's a mysterious book. I know nothing about mysterious things. Plus it was written by vampires. Do I look like a vampire to you?”

  I looked her up and down. She was impossibly pale and always wore bright red, from her clothes, to her glasses, to her shoes. “Um, um,” I sputtered.

  “Anyway, you had better get back to that nice young man." She all but pulled me out of the room.

  I arrived back in the living room just in time to see John open the front door. "Wait," I called out, but too late.

  Julie stepped inside. "Misty, you didn't tell me you were having a party," she said. “Why wasn't I invited?" Her tone turned belligerent and her cheeks puffed up.

  "It isn't a party," I lied. "It’s just a work meeting. A confidential work meeting."

  Julie brightened considerably. "That's great! I won't tell anyone. Anyway, you’ll be sad to hear I won't be able to stay for dinner, but I'd like a nice glass of wine." She looked John up and down. "Who is this handsome man? Please tell me you're not married."

  John looked taken aback, so I hastened to add, "Julie, you have a man.”

  She pulled a face. "Not for long. Craig's been spending too much money on video games again."

  I poured her a glass of wine and pressed it into her hands in the hopes it would make her stop talking. It did the trick.

  "You know, things come in patterns," Julie said.

  Cordelia looked at her. "What do you mean?"

  Julie waved one hand in the air. "I mean that things can look bad, dire even, and then suddenly everything is okay again. I suppose that's why they say things are always darkest before dawn."

  I nodded slowly. For once Julie had said something that made sense. I had nearly been killed twice in the last few days, but here I was sitting in my living room with my good friends, Aunty June and Cordelia, my new boyfriend, John, and my eccentric cat, Merlin. I couldn't be happier.

  At that very moment, the Sherwood Forest text tone sounded. I looked down at my phone.

  Caller: Blocked Sender.

  All is not what it seems. Beware. Trust no one.

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  Next Book In This Series

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